England start strong in Australia

Heading into the first match of its summer Test series against Australia, England was boldly optimistic about a strong showing. Having won the Six Nations Championship with relative ease earlier in 2016, the English were keen to test their strength against a bigger and badder international side. It’s all part of the process of preparing for the 2019 World Cup, and in the early going that process is going quite well for England.
Prior to the first contest against the Aussies on Saturday, word got out that England coach Freddie Jones would be starting the same group he used against France in the final match of the Six Nations. That meant Owen Farrell at fly-half, pushing George Ford to the bench and allowing Luther Burrell to take Farrell’s place at inside centre. It also meant pushing Jack Nowell to the bench in favour of Marland Yarde.
Introducing this same lineup for the first Test match against Australia made sense when you recall that heading into the final Six Nations contest in Paris, Jones stated that he’d only be satisfied when England was number one in the world. Having been expected to promote a new style for English rugby, he did some experimenting with his lineups and seemed to find something that worked toward the end of the Six Nations. That’s not to say he won’t continue tweaking things as he looks to build England into the preeminent international power, but seeing the lineup from the France match against Australia wasn’t a huge surprise.
Seeing it work so well, however, was a surprise to some viewers. England won the series’ opening Test 39 to 28 in Brisbane in what was a thrilling and entertaining contest. George Ford proved a valuable substitute just half an hour in (to the point that one could imagine him starting in place of Luther Burrell next time around), and Marland Yarde proved to be vital down the stretch. James Haskell was unofficially named the man of the match by the media, but Eddie Jones deserves a great deal of credit as well.
It doesn’t mean he’s achieved his goal of making England the top rugby team in the world by any stretch of the imagination. But early on in the summer Test series, Jones doesn’t look so crazy for thinking he can get there.